Running out of Space and Time

I'm starting to think that my son must really have the wrong impression. It seems as though he thinks I still have plenty of room to spare in that uterus of mine and that my organs don't really need the amount of space they are currently taking up. Maybe he is shooting for some kind of goal to make sure my stomach and bladder stay as flat as pancakes so that he can continue with his exercise routine. My theory continues with the realization that there must be about a month's worth of memory erasing that happens the moment the baby is born. Gone are the memories and suffering of heartburn, restless nights, constant punching bag practice, and of course natural delivery.

My time is almost up, that egg timer is really getting ahead of me. There is so much I want to accomplish and that I need to do. My body is gradually giving up! Anytime I take the opportunity to lay on my side to "relax" a bit... my eyelids start drooping and I nod off to sleep. Now, that isn't going to help my nesting instincts! This week has been a little busy for me with taking that driving course test (which I passed by the way), phone conferences, trying to enjoy the last few days of Jeremiah's leave, school orientations, and hospital preparations. I'll find out Monday if my body is really as ready for this as I'm thinking it is. I'm hoping I'm dilating already, even though that doesn't mean much for predicting the big day. Tomorrow will make it official that it is finally "safe" to have the little man without the fear of him being pre-term. Yay!

Would you want to hang out with these guys for a week?

I got to hang out with these cuties for a week. I was so excited to have some time with some babies (I need to fill the void I currently have). Now that vacation is over, I just have to hang in there for a few more weeks before I get to have my own! Not to mention that I don't get to give this one back when he's hungry or wakes up in the middle of the night. Eh...I'll just have to live. I do have two amazing helpers though - the girls were just beside themselves trying to help with these little ones. It was wonderful to watch!

Baby Brooklyn at 5 months with her Momma Steph


I love those cheeks!


My husband's cousin, Tristen's, little guy. His name is Julien. How cute is he!? He's just a month old! I didn't get to hold him... but watching him was WONDERFUL!

Julien with his grandpa (known to us as Uncle Tom)! Yes, Jeremiah's family is just filled with big guys.


This is Tristen, Julien's proud daddy. I was hoping to get some family pictures done before the week was done, but they had to scoot out earlier than the rest of our pack.

Part II

We headed off to Hatteras/Buxton for some exploring one morning. Jeremiah climbed the lighthouse and I stayed with the kids (there was a height limit... and no carrying allowed - that's two strikes for our girls!) and waited as the temperature outside started to climb for the day. We also tried exploring some other things, but pretty much just got pictures of the lighthouse.

 

The girls were HILARIOUS at the beach. Julia was really into the water, once she was "bored" with that - she hung out in the sand and dug like a champ! She even made some fun poses for the camera. She cracks me up. Melanie was mostly busy playing with the sand toys and running away from the water when her dad wouldn't hold her. I just sat there on a boogie board in the sand and looked 9 months pregnant. Oh wait, I AM!

 

Justin joined in the digging fun and Wyatt even came up to punch my shoulder for a close-up!







The Dads were having some fun tossing the kids up in the air - and of course the kids loved it more than the dads! Cousin Tristen stood in to be Mel's tosser since Jeremiah was busy with Julia. It was great to see the guys in the water with the little ones.

Uncle Ben used to work with a lot of pools and hot tubs. One day this week he decided he would help educate the children on different parts of the pool and how to stay safe. It was so cute to watch the kids just watch him and be so excited about their "game".

We're Back! Vacation Part I

We finally arrived home from vacation today. It was sad knowing that our week of "away" time had already come to an end. However, with Hurricane Bill off in the Atlantic, it made parting so much easier this year! On the way home we encountered numerous bits of congestion with people stopping for 2 inches of water on the roads. Then the roads were lined with parked cars - people waiting to catch a glimpse of the waves. There were plenty of surfers out there just checking out the surf. I couldn't see the water from the road because the dunes were so high... but I could see the people hanging out at the tippy top of the dunes so I guess the waves were coming in pretty close.

Anyway... .
the beginning of the week started with the girls, boys, and Dads on a "monster truck" ride at the Grave Digger attraction. The girls were loving it and screaming the whole way. Wyatt was um... yeah... pretty terrified. He kept screaming (in a frightenend kind of way and trying to cling to Jeremiah) and Justin loved it so much that he cried when he had to get off! I'll do what I can to post the video I got, I don't seem to have the best luck at posting those. Hopefully this time we will be successful! They also had a little "petting zoo" that wasn't really being run at the time. The kids just looked at the pigs and chickens - but really enjoyed seeing them for sure



Then we had tons of time in the pool - swimming almost everyday. The girls really took to the water this year, I'm smelling swim lessons for this fall! Then we headed off to the beach.




Since we went so far south this year, there was 4 wheel drive access at the beach we went to and Jeremiah drove the Xterra onto the beach where we were "camped out". After loading up all of our gear (plus ourselves) we got a little stuck in the sand. After a few minutes of letting a bit more air out of the tires and having a Sand 101 lesson, we were as good as gold!

OcraJoke

Since we are staying further south than we have in the past, we thought it would be fun to see some of the "sights" near by. There was a map in the vacation guide of Ocracoke Island. In order to get there - you need to catch a free ferry ride from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke. Needless to say.... we had to wait 2.5 hours to get on the ferry for a 30 minute ride to the Island. Then upon finally arriving...quite a few places were closed/out of business and there was WAY too few parking spaces available for the different shops. It seemed as though the beaches were catching the biggest crowds. We would have loved to see the lighthouse there, but there were no parking spots and definitely no space on the road to park anywhere and walk to it. Quite a disappointing (not to mention hot as well) day. Fortunately, once we finally turned back for home... the return wait for the ferry was about 20 minutes. YAY! I think the girls enjoyed the ferry the most out of the entire day. The sights were so disappointing, I didn't even get pictures! Poor Jeremiah was excited to see Teach's Hole (Blackbeard exhibit) and was so disappointed, he didn't even stop to go see! Upside is, it did have some great views when you could see over the dunes to the ocean or sound sides.

Hanging in Hatteras

Here are a few of the things we've been up to this week. It's sad that our time away from home is almost over. Jeremiah and I went for our first massage at a spa today - I forgot to get a picture of the place... so we'll run by tomorrow so that I can have documentation.

 

Having Fun

We arrived here in Salvo, NC safe and sound on Sunday afternoon and checked into our "home" for the week. We took a few stops along the way to stretch and get those kiddos out of the car a bit. I think overall everyone enjoyed it. By the time we reached the house I was wishing Hunter was already here so I didn't have to be so uncomfortable. I even got sunburned on my right arm and right knee (where my shorts stopped)from sitting in the car so long. Ugh. OH WELL!! We also quickly discovered that we had left all but one of the girls swimsuits at the house (Jeremiah washed them up on Saturday and we just forgot to get them in the bag). Needless to say - we bought a new one Monday so that Julia could go swimming - we hope to go to the beach early this morning before the temperatures get too warm. So excited!

Drum Roll....

It is almost vacation time, I am so stinkin excited. I hope this year is extremely relaxing as I think that is going to be the only key to my survival with these past crazy stressful months/weeks/days. Here is the place we will be calling "home" for a week starting Sunday. It should be fun and I hope I don't go into labor while I'm gone!

Explaination

For those of you who saw my facebook and noticed I had a pretty rotten day yesterday and care to read my small novel, let me elaborate.

It all started on Friday, July 10 when I went to the temple. I hadn't been in ages and I wanted to have my little sister Jocelyn down for a visit before she had to get back to school (and I had to gear up to have a baby). We were traveling 95 south and was still in North/Central Virginia (interpreted as still over 100 miles until home) in CONGESTED traffic. I know that is so hard for all of you who have ever traveled up to the temple to believe. (sarcasm) It was about 3 pm too. Anywho.... a State Trooper decided he wanted to pull over the pregnant lady from Pennsylvania and accuse her of going an outrageous speed in such conditions. Not to mention that I saw at least 20 State Troopers on the road that day up and down 95 (I really counted and there were AT LEAST that many). So... he pegged me with 77 in a 65 and didn't even bat an eyelash when I told him it couldn't have been me and that I was traveling safely at a speed of 70mph. He gave me a ticket (my first ever) and proceeded to let me continue on my journey home (which took 4 hours by the way.... yup, you guessed it.... it took me 7 hours to get home from the temple that day). The court date on the ticket was for August 13 (a day I think I will always sleep through from now on) at 9:30 am in HANOVER county VA. Jeremiah was hoping to get off work but the request was denied due to his duty day conditions (he was the only one there for duty in his entire division... doesn't make for much opportunity to get off work then... eh). I took the trip with the girls - we left at 6 am to make the 100 mile trip (with plenty of time to spare incase of traffic) to Hanover County. We arrived at 7:40am and walked around the court house and administration offices for the county for about an hour. Then we went into the court house and had a potty break and tried to settle in for the appointed time. 9:30 came and went, 10:30, 11:30, 12:30... all passed without me being called (I was waiting in the lobby area due to my two children having to tag along with me and the baliff was supposed to come get me when it was time). Finally a little after 12:30 the baliff comes out and says I'm getting close. Ok... FINALLY. They call me in... I plea not guilty to the judge, police officer adds his dity and the judge makes me raise my right hand and swear to tell the truth (to which I agreed). I proceeded to tell him the truth but was honestly scared to death and didn't really know what to say other than I had a clean record, I was only driving 70 mph and I was being passed by other cars on the road when the officer decided to come after me. By the time I explain I was being passed (all less than 30 seconds mind you) he was looking over at the officer with the most bored expression on his face that could be humanly possible. He didn't even give me two glances... he says, "Ok... you're guilty but I will dismiss the charges if you are willing to take a driving course" I asked what that would entail (as I am holding Melanie, Julia is asleep in the stroller and I have this huge belly) and he told me I could even take it in Pennsylvania if I wanted to. So, I humbly agreed and went to wait my turn AGAIN for the clerk's office. I ended up paying half of my ticket ($61 court fee that is AKA processing fee on a ticket) and then sent on my merry way to make the 100 mile trip home. My children put in a 6.5 hour day before the judge even saw me. Then add another 2 hours to that to travel home. Upon reaching home and reading the information I was given about driving school... I called the courthouse to verify some information. I was told I would have to take a course that was recognized by the state that issued my license. Ok... check with PennDOT... fine. I call PennDOT and am told they do not have such things. So... call back the court house and the lady tells me she's never heard of that and that she doesn't know what I'm going to do and, I quote "Nobody else here is going to know what to tell you either."

Eight and a half hours with my children (no food allowed during most of that time) - and we all know my kids... they screamed and had their fits throughout the waiting. I had cried a total of at least 3 times throughout the day and I just broke down crying after talking to this rude woman. She finally told me that I could write to the judge and explain my situation. If he didn't listen to me even after he made me swear to tell the truth... what makes a letter better than looking at my face!?

Then, the power goes out at our house (happens a lot... maybe that's the military's way of cutting down on housing costs is to shut down the power a few times every few weeks). Upon restoring our electricity... my computer dies. (I am writing this on Jeremiah's laptop) Thankfully we bought a large capacity hard drive shortly after Jeremiah getting home and put our pictures and music on it. So, I only lost my word documents so far. I am still trying to get the computer up and running and will hopefully only have to purchase a new mouse instead of a new PC. As of bedtime last night though - I had no luck in restoring my computer to working condition.

Poor pregnant lady has to attend driving school before the beginning of Nov, had to pay half the ticket for court costs, drove 200 miles round trip and spent 8 hours of my day waiting to be basically told that I didn't have a fighting chance against this ticket anyway.... and all before I was able to get to bed.

After sleeping on it and trying to figure out my court problems this morning, the day has so far gone much better. I was able to find out that since PA doesn't have any policy about driving courses, I can just take a VA course and that will be sufficient. They accept online courses as well which will be good since I'm having a baby in a month. Then with reformatting the hard drive on my computer... hopefully that will be fine after I fix the water damage my children did to the mouse while I was trying to get everything done this morning. Not to metion Julia taking my deodorant to our television screen last night while I was having a nervous break down (Jeremiah had duty). Pretty emotional past two days. I think I deserve a vacation... don't you??

A day of "FUN"

Lately, not much has worked out for our little family to have much time to plan anything fun to do together. Jeremiah has had a day off here and there - only to be called back into work for an "emergency". (Basically... he's the only one that can fix anything - and no one else wants to do their job or figure it out - so he has to "Save" them) Saturday was FINALLY the first day we didn't get a phone call from the boat and were able to enjoy our day together. (Honestly, we didn't stick around near home long enough to give them much of a chance at getting us to come back home to "rescue" anyone) We took off for Williamsburg for some adventures. Since my husband is from around here - a lot of the area on that side of the tunnel is his old "stomping ground" and since we won't be around much longer... it was great to let him reminisce. We will have to do it again soon and take pictures of all the places he wants to remember. We headed for the outlets to check out some clothing stores (for the girls of course!! ;) haha... and Hunter too) that I had coupons for. We ended up running into some friends we were hoping to visit with over there and the girls got to play with their grandchildren (also girls). They had a BLAST! We went swimming (I conveniently had swimming suits for the girls already in the car and we stopped in at Motherhood Maternity Outlet to grab me a colorful - yet cheap suit of my own to use at the last minute), cooked out, and really enjoyed catching up. Their daughter, who already has 2 daughters as well, is close to Jeremiah's age and is also expecting a boy (their third child too)that's due next month (just like me!!)It was nice to get to know her better and visit with another pregnant lady (that doesn't mind talking about babies). I would have liked to take some pictures of the day - most of it was reminiscing, running around to different stores, walking, checking out Pepperidge Farms outlet, bathroom breaks, and lots of playing with new found friends. It was great starting the day with no expectations, so that we could really fully enjoy the day together.

Baking time coming to an end

This pregnancy is almost done. I can not believe it! I know that having 6 1/2 weeks left for most is FOREVER (and it can be) but with how time has been flying in this family, it's just around the corner!! The last 2 weeks of Jeremiah's deployment went fast and now he's home starting his first week back to work! In two weeks, I'll have a month left until my due date! Yikes! Once it all gets down to the "nitty-gritty" time frame.... I get all anxious about how the delivery will go. Naturally, the prayers are starting up about the baby not being too big, delivery going well, baby Hunter being healthy, etc. I'm looking forward to the family vacation this year and hoping that I get some time to kick back and have some "re-charge" time. I'm just so eager to see what this little guy is going to look like! Our family is incredibly blessed!